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Open Letter: Harper Acura Does It Again

Posted by Casey in Articles, Knoxville, Reviews

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Mr. Tom Harper
Harper Dealerships
9735 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, TN 37922

Dear Mr. Harper:

If my memory serves me correctly, it was about 10 years ago when I had my first Harper Auto Square experience. I was a few months into the ownership of a ’01 VW Jetta when I experienced a brake light switch failure for the second time. After limping it into Harper Volkswagen your technicians promptly resolved the issue, in under 45 minutes if I remember correctly.

Fast forward to 2011 and here I am, still visiting the Harper brand. The service I received long ago at the VW dealership led me to purchase my last two cars from a Harper dealership – Harper Acura to be exact.

Since January 30, 2006 I have been taking our Acura’s to Harper Acura for routine maintenance. On January 18th I made a special trip, one that included routine maintenance but also a user error fix. After a failed personal grille replacement procedure I put a call into Richard Tompa and his crew and explained my dilemma. Richard got me a quick slot on the books and I was all set.

When I arrived at the dealership the morning of the 18th I was greeted by Kenny Rolen who confirmed the reason for my visit. I snatched my loaner car, which was clean inside and out I might add, and headed to work. A couple hours later I received a call from Richard who explained the procedure needed to replace the chrome grille trim and a very fair quote for the fix. I approved the work and a few hours later I was back in the service bay retrieving my ’06 TSX.

When they pulled the car around I inspected the repair work and it was, as expected, top notch. During this visit, I believe Brian Brown was the tech that worked on my car. In any case, the Harper experience that day was just as they all are for me: prompt, well-explained and full of genuine interactions from all the folks that work there.

In the future I’m confident I’ll continue to receive the best service at Harper Acura so kudos to you Mr. Harper for pairing remarkable customer service with remarkable automotive brands.

Keeping it between the lines,

Casey Peters

Got Some Help From a CoPilot

Posted by Casey in Articles, Site Updates

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Google Analytics tells me that some of you are recurring visitors. Well, if that’s you then I’m guessing you noticed that things have changed around here. For several years I rocked the same look but with my 2011 resolution of writing more I also wanted a new tumblelog look. With no time to design and hack something up myself, I turned to a theme called CoPilot. For the next couple of weeks expect this place to be a work in progress as I format it to fit my needs.

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2006 Acura TSX – 5 Years of Ownership, Nothing But Superlatives

Posted by Casey in Acura TSX, Articles, Reviews

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In winter of 2005/06 I decided to shop for a new four-door sedan. Out of the Lexus IS250, Acura TSX and Volkswagen Jetta GLI I chose the TSX. It met all of my requirements and the fact that it was assembled in Japan was a big plus for me.

January 30th of this year will mark 5 years of ownership with my TSX. In typical blog fashion, I am writing a review to share the ups and downs of owning this particular model. Let’s start with the numbers.

Current Mileage: 75,437
Average Fuel Economy / Range: 26.39 MPG / 280.3 miles
Maintenance Costs (including tires): $3,117.31
Personal Modification Costs: $308.05

All generations of the TSX are based on the European version of the Honda Accord which makes it smaller than the US version of the Accord. Part of the draw to own this car was it’s small, sporty size that still has ample interior room for four adults and their accompanying luggage.

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Review: Case-mate Barely There Case for HTC EVO

Posted by Casey in Articles, Reviews

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Update: As I quoted below, “bad news” ensued when I dropped my Evo. I still give this case a passing grade for everyday wear and tear protection.

On the bell curve of innovation I tend to fall in the early adopters section. Perhaps because I like to try new things or maybe it’s because I like to inflict a lot of pain…on myself. Whatever the reason I like my products to be covered in the fresh scent of beta.

Early in 2010 I decided to put Sprint to the test by purchasing their first Android-based smartphone, the HTC Hero. A quick trip to Best Buy (which I highly recommend for cell phone transactions) and off I went. About twelve months and many cuss words later I decided that the Hero didn’t have the hardware oomph to take Android OS to the next level. So, I upgraded to the HTC EVO 4G.

After about 20 days with the EVO I have to say that I’m very pleased. It’s fast, consistent and packs a big enough screen to ease the pain of not having some type of keyboard for my fat fingers. Since my cell phone acts as both my mobile and home phone line, it goes with me everywhere which means it’s going to get dropped. I’m going to need a case, right?

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2009 Acura MDX

Acura MDX Gas Mileage: 10 Tanks and Counting

Posted by Casey in Acura MDX, Articles

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If you follow this site you probably know by now that I love crunching data, especially when it comes to the fuel efficiency of my cars.

In late October of this year my wife and I purchased a 2009 Acura MDX to replace her aging Honda Accord. Obligatory plug: we took delivery via Harper Acura who worked diligently to procure the car from another state and ensure they left us as happy customers. I’ve been going to Harper VW and Harper Acura since 2002ish and they’ve never disappointed me. If you’re in the market give Shannon a call at the Porsche building and he’ll hook you up with the right person.

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4 Project Management Blogs That Won’t Give You Scope Creep

Posted by Casey in Articles, The Web

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As I prepare to take the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam early next year, I’m constantly trying to cram as much project management (PM) info into each day. While browsing my RSS reader today I realized I have a good spread of PM sites in my arsenal. Instead of hording them to myself I thought I would share. Here are four project management blogs that are worth your time:

  • The Project Management Hut. Always updating, the PM Hut is stuffed with PM articles covering just about every topic you could imagine. The collection of authors do an excellent job relating to various industries as well, making sure not to cover one sector too strongly.
  • Project Shrink. This site does a great job of mixing the sometimes boring semantics of PM work with the real world human aspects of working on projects. The author, Bas de Baar, intermittently updates the site with informative videos, thoughtful advice and a drizzle of social media info.
  • Scope crêpe. Rich Maltzman, PMP, updates his site Scope crêpe about once a month. He tends to focus on showcasing tools and processes that will help any project manager, novice or pro.
  • Fear No Project. The FNP blog is written by Bruce McGraw and is focused on covering real world project scenarios. He recently posted a timely read called “What to do when everyone leaves town for the Holiday” which I’m sure is on every PM’s mind about this time of year.

Classified Info: Pal’s Sudden Service Secret Menu

Posted by Casey in Articles, Food

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For over 18 years plus a few summers, I lived in Kingsport, TN, headquarters to Pal’s Sudden Service. Not once during those 18 years did anyone mention the Pal’s Secret Menu – until today.

While skimming the I Love Pal’s group pages on Facebook, I stumbled upon a discussion thread asking what everyone liked best on the Secret Menu. For those as sheltered as I am here are the items:

- Dipped Big Pal (meat is dipped in sauce burger sauce)
- Dressed Hot Dog (hot dog with lettuce, tomato and pickle)
- Toasted Cheese (bun reversed grilled cheese with lettuce and tomato)
- Ham & Cheese Breakfast Style (toasted cheese w/ ham)
- Peachy Mello Yellow
- Peachy Sprite

Something tells me there will be a need for stickers and t-shirts proclaiming ones knowledge of this highly classified menu.

More Secret Menu Items: Chili Cheddar Rounds (William)

Fine Print

My views and words are my own, and do not, in any way, represent those of my employer.

Casey Peters © Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved.

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